The monitoring of an adequate intake of fluids is vital to the care of all who are ill or who, because of physical or mental disability, have an impaired ability to drink normally. Individual feeding of such patients is time consuming and imposes a great strain on nursing resources. Alternative methods of administering fluids are intravenous and nasal tubes and such alternatives may be used inappropriately because of lack of a suitable system or facility for the administration of oral feeds.
U.S. Pat. No. 4301,934 describes an infant feeding device in which a teat is connected by a tube to an inverted feeding bottle. The infant can grasp the teat at will and place it in his or her mouth. The teat protrudes from a rigid disc which is too large to enter the infant's mouth, so avoiding any risk of the infant swallowing the teat. In the case of invalids, such an arrangement would not be satisfactory as the patient may not be able to place a feeder in his or her mouth or even may be of a mind to reject the feeder.
It has recently been proposed in UK Patent Application No. 2181958A to provide a device for administering oral fluid to a patient comprising a nipple, a soft reticulate mouthpiece shaped to be received between the nipple and the teeth or gums of the patient to hold the nipple over the patient's tongue, a container for the oral fluid, the container being at a higher level than the patient's head, and a tube leading from the container to the nipple, the latter containing a valve which prevents the fluid from flowing freely out of the nipple but which is operable by the sucking action of the patient so that the oral fluid flows out of the nipple so long as the patient continues to suck.
However, some patients who are extremely ill may be unable to maintain a sustained suction action sufficient to permit sufficient oral fluid to be administered to the patient.